Transmission and coil brake for winches

ABSTRACT

An electrically powered module for converting a hand winch from which the hand winch handle has been removed into an electrically operated winch. The power module includes an electric motor having a drive gear for driving the gears of a gear train. The gear train is housed between parallel, spaced plates, the motor being attached to one plate and the hand winch to the opposite plate. The drive gear and the winch drive shaft both extend to a position intermediate the plates and are connected by the gear train. A coil spring brake is provided as well as means for disengaging transmission by the gear train of the driving force of the motor drive shaft to the winch drive shaft.

United States Patent Priest et al.

[54] TRANSMISSION AND COIL BRAKE 3,101,138 8/1963 Wochner ..192/4 R FOR WINCHES 3,530,963 9/1929 Becker et al. ..192/4 R [72] Inventors: Wayne A. Priest, Kansas City Primary Exammer-Ben am1n W. Wyche Arthur Attorney-M0linare, Allegretti, Newitt & Witcoff [73] Assignee: Dutton-Lainson Company [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Dec. 2, 1970 An electrically powered module for converting a hand [21] A l N 94 winch from which the hand winch handle has been pp removed into an electrically operated winch. The power module includes an electric motor having a 52 US. Cl ..192/4 R, 74/405, 74/4115, drive gear for driving the gears of a gear train- The 54 5 B gear train is housed between parallel, spaced plates, 51 1111.01. ..B66d 1/26 the motor being attached to one Plate and the hand [58] Field of Search ..192/4 R, 12 BA; 74/41 1.5 Q tofhe PP P The drive the WlIlCh drive shaft both extend to a posltlon inter- [56] References Cited mediate the plates and are connected by the gear train. A coil spring brake is provided as well as means UNITED STATES PATENTS for disengaging transmission by the gear train of the 3,410,379 11/1968 Maiershofer ..192/12 BA ggig gg of the drve Shaft the w'nch 2,765,053 10/1956 Schmitter ..192/4 R X 2,975,648 3/1961 Doerries ..192/4 R X 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 7;] L e; l 6 78 76 3% 84 88 v 1 74 92 -64 24 66 5 l 30 [Q ,i:'-;: Q, 27

PATENTEDA B 912 3.687.249

SHEET 1 OF 3 JNVENTORS 22 36 38 WAYNE A. PR/EST F is 3 BY ARTHUR D. Wf/GA/VD I ,Ajfiwi? (Jr ATTORNEYS PATENTED B I97? 3.687.249

SHIEI 2 0F 3 INVENTORS m4 Y/VE A. PRIEST Al? THUR 0. WE/GANO M ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an assembly for automatically driving a winch and, in particular, to an electrically powered module which may be attached to a hand winch to operate such a winch. The invention is thus directed generally to lower powered winches such as hand winches, although the claims and concepts of the invention are equally applicable to high powered industrial winches.

Winches have numerous applications. They are, for example, used with boating equipment to augment removal and placement of a boat on a boat trailer. There are numerous agricultural uses such as for the transportation of feed or the movement of farm equipment. The winch also has numerous industrial applications.

Typically, a winch includes a drum about which a cable is wound. Also included, 'is a gear train which is operated most often by a hand crank. The gear train provides the operator of the winch with a mechanical advantage so that heavy loads may be moved by means of the winch. Also included in many winches are ratchet means which prevent backlash by the winch and which hold the drum in a fixed position when the drive shaft of the winch is not being operated.

Hand operated winches do not provide satisfactory solutions to various problems, however. For example, a hand operated winch cannot be operated from a remote location. Also, one may not be physically able to operate a hand winch even though the winch provides a mechanical advantage. For these reasons, various attempts have been made to provide winches driven by electric motors. Typically, such electrically powered winches are manufactured and sold as a total unit often in direct competition with hand winches. To modify a hand winch by means of a commercially available power module in order to provide the hand winch with electric power means has not been heretofore known to the inventors. More particularly, an electric motor which can be adapted for use by almost any hand winch has not been heretofore known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a principal aspect, the present invention of an electrically powered module for converting a hand winch to electric motor operation comprises a gear housing having a pair of parallel, spaced plates with an electric motor operable to drive a gear train within the housing and a hub assembly adapted to receive the winch drive shaft of the hand winch, the hub assembly being driven by the gear train. Means provided to brake the module, and means are also provided to disengage the drive train to the hub assembly.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide improved means for electrically driving a winch.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means for driving a winch wherein the winch may have originally been a hand winch and the means for driving the hand winch is a modular, electrically driven apparatus which may be used to replace the hand operated handle of most hand winches.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a reversible, electrically driven winch which may be operated from a remote position.

One further object of the present invention is to provide an electrically driven hand winch which includes means for disengaging the electric drive motor from operation of the winch.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be set forth in greater detail in the description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the detailed description which follows, reference will be made to the drawing comprised of the following figures:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved electrically powered module of the present invention in combination with a typical hand winch;

FIG. 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the improved module of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cut-away front view of the module taken substantially along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1; v

FIG. 4 is a top view of the module with the protective cover removed from the gear housing;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the gear housing taken substantially along the line 5-5 in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the gear housing taken substantially along the line 6-6 in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the detailed description which follows, like numbers indicate the same component in each of the FIGURES. Referring to the FIGURES, the module includes an electric motor 10 fastened to a gear housing 12. A winch 14 is attached to the opposite side of the gear housing 12. The inch 14 is of typical construction and includes a drum 16 upon which a cable 18 may be wound as well as as any ratchet mechanism (not shown) which may be utilized to prevent backlash or unwinding of cable 18 from drum l6. Importantly, as shown in FIG. 2, the winch 14 includes a winch drive shaft 20 and a side plate 22 to which the module comprised of the motor 10 and gear housing 12 may be attached. The winch drive shaft 20 extends beyond the side plate 22 for cooperation with the gear housing 12 as will be described below. The winch drive shaft 20 is keyed for cooperation'with the gear housing 12 as illustrated in FIG. 2, and as will be described in greater detail below.

The motor 10 includes a switch handle 24 and electric power leads 26. In the embodiment shown, rotation of the switch handle 24 in a clockwise or counterclockwise sense will cause operation of an output shaft 28 of the motor 10 in the clock wise or counterclockwise direction respectively, thus imparting a similar driving movement to an output shaft spur gear 30. The handle 24 may be moved by direct manual actuation, or cables may be attached to the opposite ends of the handle 24, for example, at bolts 25 and 27 respectively, for remote operation.

The gear housing 12 normally includes a cover 32 to prevent debris from damaging the gears and mechanism of the invention and also for safety reasons. The gearing housing 12 also includes first and second parallel plates 34 and 36 respectively interconnected by a base member 38. The plates 34 and 36 are maintained in rigid spaced relation not only by means of the base member 38 but also by means of spaces 44 and 46.

The motor is attached to the plate 34 by means of bolt ends 40 projecting from the motor 10 through appropriate openings in the plate 34 and fastened thereto by means of nuts 42. The shaft 28 and attached spur gear 30 therefore extend to a position intermediate the plates 34 and 36.

Winch drive shaft 20 extends through an appropriate opening in the second plate 36 for cooperation with a hub assembly comprised of a hub 48 attached to a brake drum 50 and cooperably interlocked and fastened to a spur gear 52. The gear 52 and hub 48 are attached to the drum 50 by means of threaded bolts 54. The winch drive shaft 20 is keyed through the shaped opening 56 in hub 48 and held in a fixed position thereby means of a nut 58.

A coiled spring brake 60 includes a coil 62 adapted to fit over the drum 50 and a pivot end 64 adapted to fit over a stub 66 extending from the second plate 36. An active end or hand operated end 68'of the brake 60 may then be hand biased to engage the coil 62 with the outer surface of the drum 50 to prevent movement of the drum 50 and consequently movement of the shaft 20.

The gear 52 of the hub assembly is interconnected with the gear 30 by means of a drive train. The drive train includes a pair of spur gears 70 and 72 mounted indirectly on a shaft 74. The gears 70 and 72 are actually mounted on a bushing 76 which is fixed to the shaft 74. Another bushing 78 on shaft 74 slides within a cylindrical bushing or ferrule 79 which is attached to the plate 36. A lockring 82 abuts the bushing 76 and holds the gear 72 thereon. A biasing spring 84 is positioned on the shaft 74 intermediate the gear 72 and plate 34 and acts to bias the shaft 74 and thus the gears 70 and 72 into engagement with the gears 52 and 30 respectively. Thus, gear 70 may be made to intermesh with gear 52 and gear 72 will mesh with gear 30 to provide a continuous transmission of mechanical connection from the electric motor 10 to the drive shaft 20.

Shaft 74 extends beyond plate 34 through an opening in plate 34 and concentric with a cylindrically shaped and slotted bushing or ferrule 86 which is rigidly attached to the plate 34. The bushing 86 includes a slot 88 cooperable with a pin 90 in shaft 74. The pin 90, when made to slide to the bottom of slot 88, permits the gears 70 and 72 to be engaged. However, the shaft 74 may be withdrawn manually against the force of the spring 84 by pulling on a handle pin 92 in shaft 74 and twisting the shaft 74 so that the pin 90 will not fall within the slot 88. Thus, the gears 70 and 72 are maintained out of engagement with the gears 52 and 30 respectively. This prevents transmission of mechanical energy to the shaft 20.

It is to be noted that bolts as at 94 and nuts as at 96 are provided to fit through appropriate openings in the plate 36 and the plate 22 of an adjacent winch 14 to hold the winch 14 in secure communication with the electric power module of the present invention. Also, the electric motor 10 which operates the drive shaft 28 may be operated from a car battery, for example, or from an alternating current voltage source depending upon the requirements of the application and the motor which is being used. The module of the present invention may be utilized in combination with hand winches which are currently being used. One merely need remove the handle of the hand winch and attach the module to the hand winch in place of the handle. This arrangement provides a great convenience to a dealer in winches who may now stock modules as a separate commercial item and merely attach the module to a winch if such is desired by a customer. A single module will thus be cooperable with many winches.

Very importantly, a ratchet which is an integral part of most hand winches will remain as an operable component of the entire system, even though the module has been added to the system. The ratchet when engaged will thus automatically lock the winch in position when the power is turned off. This is a very desirable safety feature. In addition, of course, the brake as described above is provided with the module of the present invention and, further, the mechanical interconnection between the electric motor and the hub assembly may be disengaged to permit free wheeling. This allows the winch wheel to be rotated by hand or by pulling on the winch cable. Thus, quick unreeling is possible without operation of the motor.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric power module for operating a winch, said winch having a winch drive shaft, said module comprising, in combination:

a gear housing having first and second substantially parallel, spaced plates; motor means attached to the outside of said first plate and having drive gear means extending therethrough to a position intermediate said plates; a hub assembly between said plates, said hub assembly including means for interlocking with said winch drive shaft when said winch drive shaft extends from outside said second plate through said second plate to a position intermediate said plates, said hub assembly also including a brake drum; a spring brake comprising a spring having a first end fastened in a fixed position relative to at least one of said plates, a coil about said brake drum and also having an opposite end free for manual actuation to thereby engage said coil with said drum to prevent rotation of said drum and movement of said hub assembly; and drive train means connecting said drive gear means to said hub assembly to provide a mechanical driving connection and to drive said assembly and thus said winch whenever said motor means is on and said brake is off.

2. The module of claim 1 wherein said drive train means includes means for disengaging the mechanical driving connection between said drive gear means and said hub assembly.

3. The module of claim 2 wherein said means for disengaging comprise a biased gear in said drive train means, said biased gear being normally biased to provide the mechanical driving connection between said drive gear means and said hub assembly and being moveable against the biasing force to a second position whereby said biased gear disengages the mechanical driving connection.

4. The module of claim 2 including means for maintaining disengagement of said drive gear means with said hub assembly.

5. The module of claim 4 wherein said means for maintaining disengagement comprise a biased gear on a shaft, said gear being normally biased to provide the mechanical driving connection between said drive gear means and said hub assembly, and means for locking said shaft and attached gear in a position of disengagement of the mechanical driving connection between said drive gear means and said hub assembly. 5 6. The module of claim 1 wherein said motor means is reversible. 

1. An electric power module for operating a winch, said winch having a winch drive shaft, said module comprising, in combination: a gear housing having first and second substantially parallel, spaced plates; motor means attached to the outside of said first plate and having drive gear means extending therethrough to a position intermediate said plates; a hub assembly between said plates, said hub assembly including means for interlocking with said winch drive shaft when said winch drive shaft extends from outside said second plate through said second plate to a position intermediate said plates, said hub assembly also including a brake drum; a spring brake comprising a spring having a first end fastened in a fixed position relative to at least one of said plates, a coil about said brake drum and also having an opposite end free for manual actuation to thereby engage said coil with said drum to prevent rotation of said drum and movement of said hub assembly; and drive train means connecting said drive gear means to said hub assembly to provide a mechanical driving connection and to drive said assembly and thus said winch whenever said motor means is on and said brake is off.
 2. The module of claim 1 wherein said drive train means includes means for disengaging the mechanical driving connection between said drive gear means and said hub assembly.
 3. The module of claim 2 wherein said means for disengaging comprise a biased gear in said drive train means, said biased gear being normally biased to provide the mechanical driving connection between said drive gear means and said hub assembly and being moveable against the biasing force to a second position whereby said biased gear disengages the mechanical driving connection.
 4. The module of claim 2 including means for maintaining disengagement of said drive gear means with said hub assembly.
 5. The module of claim 4 wherein said means for maintaining disengagement comprise a biased gear on a shaft, said gear being normally biased to provide the mechanical driving connection between said drive gear means and said hub assembly, and means for locking said shaft and attached gear in a position of disengagement of the mechanical driving connection between said drive gear means and said hub assembly.
 6. The module of claim 1 wherein said motor means is reversible. 